Drive mechanism for triplex slitter-scorers



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HENRY W.MO'SER BY WW mrrvs H. W. MOSER DRIVE MECHANISM FOR TRIPLEX SLITTER-SCORERS Filed Feb. 13, 1957 Dec. 23, 1958 H. w. MOSER 2,865,264

DRIVE MECHANISM FOR TRIPLEX SLITTER-SCORERS Filed Feb. 13, 195'? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-4.

INVENTORZ HENRY VV. MOSER United States Patent DRIVE MECHANISM FOR TRIPLEX SLITTER-SCORERS Henry W. Moser, Haddonfield, N. J., assignor to Samuel M. Langston Co., Camden, N. 1., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 13, 1957, Serial No. 639,922

3 Claims. (Cl. 93-582) This invention relates to improvements in mechanisms for slitting, scoring or performing like operations on travelling web stock, and more particularly to that class of mechanism which includes in a unitary assembly a plurality of interchangeable web-working instrumentalities movable individually into operative position with respect to the web for performing different operations on the latter selectively.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a machine of this class having improved drive means for the said instrumentalities materially facilitating the operation of changing over from one instrumentality to another and affording a substantial reduction in idle time involved in such changeover.

The invention contemplates also a material simplification in mechanisms of the stated class with corresponding economy in production and maintenance.

In the attached drawings:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of the slitter-scorer machine made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the machine, portions of the housing being broken away to expose certain of the elements of mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33, Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing details of the drive means.

With reference to the drawings, the machine therein illustrated comprises side frame members 1 and 2 in which is journalled a shaft 3. A screw 4 rotatably mounted in the member 1 and engaged with the end of shaft 3 affords a means for axially adjusting the shaft in the frame members, such adjustment being effected by manipulation of a hand wheel 5 on the outer end of the screw. On its opposite end, housed in frame member 2, the shaft carries a gear 6 which may be actuated to turn the shaft by way of a pinion 7, electric motor 8, and a gear reduction unit 9 which connects the pinion to the motor.

Shaft 3 has attached thereto axially spaced spiders 11 and 12. Journalled in the relatively aligned pairs of arms of these spiders respectively are three sets of shafts, the shafts of the respective sets being identified by the numerals 13, 14; 15, 16; and 17, 18. As shown in Fig. 1 these sets of shafts carry the web-working instrumentalities, in the present instance rotary slitter knives 19, 19 and rotary scoring elements 21, 21. The sets of shafts may be brought selectively to an operative position at the top of the machine by angular adjustments of the spider as described above. In the drawings the shafts 13 and 14 are shown occupying the operative position with the strip 22 of web stock passing therebetween and engaged by the slitting and scoring elements. The presently inoperative sets of shafts 15, 16 and 17, 18 may in this interval be made up for subsequent desired operations on the Web stock.

Each of the inner shafts 13, 15 and 17 of the respective sets has at one end a broad faced pulley 23 which provides a means for driving the said shafts. The two shafts of "ice each set are connected for synchronized rotation by means of gears 24 and 25 secured to the opposite ends of the shafts, see Fig. 1. Rotation of the inner shaft of each set is therefor accompanied by a corresponding but opposite rotation of the other shaft.

In pursuance of the present invention, a shaft 26 is journalled in the upper end of frame member 2, and this shaft carries at its inner end a rubber faced wheel 27 the peripheral surface of which is in pressure contact with the pulley 23 of that one of slitter-scorer shafts ,13, 15 and 17 which at the moment occupies the aforesaid operative position. I have found a conventional pneumatic tire of the type used on aircraft well suited for this purpose. The shaft 26 is driven in the present instance from a line shaft 30 through the medium of dual chains 28, 28 and sprockets 29, 29 on the line shaft, opposite sprockets 31, 31 on stub shaft 32, and a pinion 33 on the latter shaft which engages bevel gear 34 on the outer end of shaft 26.

In operation, the driver 27 will be continuously rotated even during the periods when one set of slitter-scorer shafts is being substituted for another. In this operation the pulley 23 of the set of shafts moving into the operative position will come into frictional contact with the resilient periphery of driver 27 without shock, the relatively low inertia of the shafts permitting the driver to accelerate them rapidly to normal working speed with small slippage.

conventionally, the slitter-scorer shafts have been connected to the source of power by means of toothed gears, such gears, for example, replacing the pulley 23 and driver 27. In that case it was necessary to provide also a clutch between the driver gear and the line shaft or other power source as a means for interrupting operation of the driver when the one of the sets of slitter-scorer shafts was to be substituted for another in the operating position. The clutch not only added materially to the cost of the machine but also involved in the very nature of its function substantial losses in the productive operating time of the machine. My invention eliminates both of these disadvantages of the prior devices.

It will be evident also that a further factor of economy resides in the use of the pneumatic rubber driver by reason of its relatively low initial cost, its high resistance to wear, and the low cost of replacement when that eventually becomes necessary.

As previously described, means is provided for axial adjustment of the spider 11, 12. The consequent relative axial adjustments of the pulley 23 and driver 27 are accommodated by the broad face of the former and may readily be effected while the pulley and driver are in rotary operative engagement.

I claim:

1. In a machine for performing work on continuously travelling web stock, a plurality of unitary web-working instrumentalities each comprising a driving pulley, a common rotary carrier for said instrumentalities, said pulleys being uniformly spaced radially from the rotary axis of said carrier so as to transcribe a common circular path as the carrier is rotated, means for moving said units selectively into operative position with respect to the web and for withdrawing said units, and a relatively fixed rotary resilient driver for said units positioned so that when each of the units occupies the said operative position the axis of the driver occupies a common plane with the axes of the pulley of said unit and of the carrier, and the radial distance between the axes of the driver and pulley is less than the combined normal radii of the driver and pulley so that the peripheral surface of the driver is resiliently frictionally engaged with the peripheral surface of the pulley.

2. A machine according to claim 1 including means f9;

angul'arly adjusting the carrier about the rotary axis thereof, andmeans for rotating the driver independently of said adjusting means.

3. In a machine for slitting and scoring continuously travelling web'stock, a plurality of sets'of shafts for slitting and scoring elements, a common rotary carrier for said shafts; means for'angularly adjusting the carrier about its rotary axis to bring'the said sets of shafts selectively and individually into an operative position Witl'IICSPGCt to the Web, means for connecting the shafts of each set for simultaneous rotation in the carrier, a drive pulley on one of the'shafts of each set, said pulleys moving in acommon circular path as the carrier is angularly adjusted, and a resilient rotary driver for said shafts positioned in the path of the pulleys for frictional engagement with the pulley of the set of shafts occupying the said operative position within an area of the peripheral surface of the driver bisected by a radial plane containing the rotary axes of driver, the pulley and the carrier.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,111,422 Fawick Mar. 15, 1938 2,664,035 Roselius Dec. 29, 1953 2,774,579 Brown et a1 Dec. 18, 1956 

